Matt Keally's Blog

A few years ago, I was simultaneously running machines with OS X, Windows XP, and Linux.  After giving up PC gaming and my Macbook started aging, I switched to Linux exclusively, since it had nearly everything I needed for school/work.  I did however, keep a Windows XP partition on my laptop for PowerPoint presentations since I find Open Office to be seriously lacking.  Using Linux almost exclusively worked pretty well for the last couple years and I managed never to have touched Windows Vista.

Since the release of Windows 7, I’ve heard plenty of good reviews about this latest Windows version and I decided to give it a try.  A month ago, I installed it on my MSI netbook so I could travel lightweight and give a paper presentation using PowerPoint.  Shortly thereafter, Ubuntu released its latest version into the wild and after using both Windows and Linux for about a month, I’ve been able to come up with some strong and weak points on both.  Some of my comments apply to Windows and Linux in general and not just to these latest versions or distributions.

Windows 7

Pros

• A solid UI.  I’m a real fan of the Aero theme, system fonts, and improved start menu.  The taskbar really takes the cake by using icons and clustering multiple instances of the same program.  Hovering over the taskbar gives a cool preview of each open window.
• Fast.  My netbook with Windows 7 feels just as responsive as it did when it ran Linux.  Boot times are a little slower, however.
• Robustness.  I had no difficulty with the Windows 7 install on my netbook and Microsoft even provides a Windows 7 CD to USB image utility for netbooks.  Unlike my Ubuntu experience, there aren’t any weird hacks to go through in order to get your display or wireless connection working correctly following a fresh install.  Furthermore, I haven’t encountered any system crashes and Windows seems to keep any malfunctioning program from taking down the whole system.
• Good hardware support.  I plug in a camera and it’s automatically recognized and drivers are installed from the internet.  I plug in an external monitor or projector and the correct model is detected and my desktop is extended on to it with the correct resolution.  It’s great for presentations since there isn’t much fiddling with the projector or Control Panel settings to get everything looking good.
• Software availability.  Everything has a Windows version, even most open source software.  I find that most developers put more effort into Windows versions since that’s what most people are running.  For example, I’ve had fewer crashes and slowdowns with the Windows versions of Firefox and Skype.  The Windows version of Skype is also much more polished than its Linux counterpart.  Furthermore, many software programs are only available on Windows.  MS Office, despite its incredible price tag, is still far superior to Open Office, and of course, only runs on Windows.
• Games.  Most of the latest AAA titles are available for Windows, a few might be available for Mac, and I’ve heard of only one or two released right off the bat for Linux.  If you’re into PC gaming, Windows is the only way to go.

Cons

• Lack of a centralized software repository.  This makes it a real pain to download and  install software since I have to go to a separate website for each program I want to install, find the download page, and click through a bunch of installation dialogs.  Even worse is that nearly every Windows program I install runs a background process on startup that constantly checks for updates and bogs down my system.  Also because of this lack of a centralized repository, programs inconsistently install themselves in many different places.
• Difficult to configure system settings.  The Control Panel is a real maze of links, buttons, and dialogs which are dumbed down at the highest level and utterly confusing once I drill down into specific settings.  Some settings can’t even be accessed with the Control Panel: for example, I still find myself using msconfig.exe to remove unwanted startup items.
• Windows Update is still very intrusive.  A large number of updates require me to reboot and will display a nag timer forcing me to do so.  I really don’t like the OS to get in the way and nag at me.  Some of the system updates take quite awhile to install and can bring my system to a crawl.
• Libraries.  This feature, which wasn’t in XP, is similar to Unix symlinks.  A library clusters together files and folders from several locations in the filesystem, making it unclear where the files are really located.  I would prefer that all my music, movies, or PowerPoint slideshows be stored in a single location in the directory structure such that I can easily back everything up or find something via Windows Explorer.  Windows seems to want you to not have any knowledge about its directory structure and instead rely on searches and libraries.
• Developer Tools.  This is the exception to the software availability and quality rule.  I’ve been using Eclipse for Linux and Windows and it works well enough on both platforms with plugins for Subversion and LaTeX editing.  However, other tools such as a basic text editor, LaTeX compiler, and command line tools such as make are either lacking or nonexistent.  I find it much easier to work with the command line than a GUI when creating plots with Gnuplot and documents with LaTeX.  I can quickly switch from one thing to the next without clicking through a whole pile of menus and dialogs.

Ubuntu 10.04

Pros

• A centralized software repository.  This is the main reason I like Debian and its variants so much. “apt-get install” will give me any program I want and provide automatic updates.  Removal is just as easy.
• Fast boot times.  On my 3 year old laptop, Ubuntu is up and running in 30 seconds or less from the moment I hit the power button.
• Easy to configure and control.  Adjusting a system setting is easily performed from a GUI tool or from the command line.  Configurations are stored in well documented text files as opposed to the nasty Windows Registry.  It’s really easy to track down where a program’s install directory is located and tweak something.
• A customizable UI.  The sheer number of themes available is astounding, with Compiz providing some really cool desktop visual effects that rivals anything Windows has to offer.
• Enthusiastic user base (support).  I’ve found that tons other Linux enthusiasts are more than willing to help with problems on message boards and websites.  For things I’ve had trouble with, a quick google search or message board post will return tons of answers with other people who had the exact same problem and had already solved it.  With Windows issues, answers seem a lot more difficult to come by and the user base isn’t nearly as friendly.
• Developer Tools.  Just about everything under the sun is readily available for developers in Linux, including a plethora of compilers, text editors, and command line tools.  Working from the command line makes things a snap compared to painstakingly navigating through different dialogs and menus.

Cons

• New software versions take time to be added to the repository.  For example, Firefox 3.6 has been out for months but was only recently included in the 10.04 Lucid Lynx release.  Prior to that, I had to compile and install Firefox 3.6 from source.
• Installation headaches still persist.  With every Ubuntu release, something doesn’t work post-install.  With 10.04, it was my video drivers.  During the upgrade process from 9.10, the installer whined about my video drivers and supposedly aborted the install.  Upon rebooting my computer, however, it was clear that the install had not aborted and my display was completely messed up.  After rebooting again, Ubuntu downloaded and installed the required video drivers automatically.  Also, Ubuntu now tries on boot to mount a remote drive in my /etc/fstab for which I don’t have a saved key, halting the boot process until I manually override the mounting process.
• Software quality and robustness.  Productivity software, such as Open Office, isn’t nearly as capable or as featureful as Microsoft Office.  I’ve had trouble with Flash causing browser crashes and other programs crashing all on their own which run stably in Windows.  I’ve had a heck of a time figuring out why some fonts are rendered terribly and look blurry in some programs, among other things.  More effort should be placed on creating polished products in order for open source software to really take off.
• Lacking hardware support.  This goes with the above bullet: I plug in an external monitor or projector and I still have to fidget with resolutions and positioning to get everything to work.  Suspending to disk often borks the external monitor configuration and then I have to do it all over again.

In all, I can’t say that either the latest Windows or Linux versions are better.  Windows provides a more robust and polished solution, while Linux gives more power and control to its users.  I find Linux to be a better choice for development, but Windows is the clear winner for gaming.  Both Windows 7 and Ubuntu 10.04 run reasonably fast — Windows 7 does quite well on my netbook, but Ubuntu clearly takes the cake with boot times.  Until open source software takes quality up a notch and Windows provides a better development environment, I’ll probably be dual booting, running virtual machines, or using multiple computers with both operating systems.